XanEdu, Flat World Partner to Lower the Cost of College Course Materials

ANN ARBOR — XanEdu Publishing Inc., a provider of customizable course materials, and Irvington, N.Y.-based Flat World Knowledge, the largest publisher of expert-authored and peer-reviewed open college textbooks, announced today that they are partnering to offer a flexible way for educators to provide students with low-cost textbook and course pack alternatives.

The partnership addresses the growing need for affordable course content that professors can easily customize to better fit their teaching and course requirements. The two companies are integrating Flat World’s MIYO (Make It Your Own) customization platform with XanEdu’s Folio-X e-learning platform for third party content. Educators now have the ability to pair selections from Flat World’s catalog of open textbooks with any other third party content.

“Flat World Knowledge has a unique and progressive business model focused on high-value content at low cost,” said Alar Elken, XanEdu CEO. “Our combined vision is to extend this value proposition to customers in ways that dramatically streamline the aggregation process and reduce the cost of highly personalized textbook alternatives. In addition, our combined customers will have the option to transform Flat World content into dynamic, interactive and engaging digital experiences that enhance learning, encourage collaboration, and improve learning outcomes. We’re excited to be working with a partner that values customer choice, flexibility and active integration.”

XanEdu will provide the aggregation and copyright clearance services of the third party content, and then package and deliver the course materials to students in a variety of popular formats, including XanEdu’s award-winning Folio-X e-learning platform for the iPad and Android tablets.

“I have always admired XanEdu’s commitment to personalized courses, and their ability to work with faculty to ensure that their course materials really match instruction,” said Jeff Shelstad, CEO and Co-Founder of Flat World Knowledge. “Flat World’s focus on personalization complements XanEdu’s, and our flexible content will better support their efforts worldwide.”

Educators often combine textbook chapters with a variety of third-party sources, including journal and newspaper articles, cases, multimedia and personal lecture notes. Professors need flexible and easily accessible content choices from a variety of disparate sources combined with copyright clearance services and innovative delivery options that meet the needs of today’s mobile students.

The combined XanEdu-Flat World solution is currently available to educators by calling (800) 218-5971 option 6 or requesting an estimate at http://www2.xanedu.com/low-cost. The two companies plan to have a more advanced online integration completed by the summer of 2012.

Founded in 1999, XanEdu delivers innovative print and digital custom course materials and textbooks, which are 100 percent copyright compliant, and accessible on iPad and Android tablets. XanEdu received a Campus Technology 2011 Innovators Award for its XanEdu iPad app as part of the Folio-X e-learning platform. Faculty, academic programs, bookstores and students all turn to XanEdu for quality, convenience and innovation. XanEdu publishes over 15,000 titles at over 2,000 institutions annually. To learn more, visit www.xanedu.com,